View Technologies Announces New Smart Antenna for Smaller Locations

View Technologies, a joint venture formed in 2014 by Stanley Black & Decker and RF Controls, has announced a new smart antenna designed for installation in smaller locations, such as retail storefronts or any other site containing ceilings as low as 8 feet. The Echo 405, expected to be made commercially available later this year, is capable of shifting between circular, vertical and horizontal polarization, the company reports, making it possible to penetrate dense environments more effectively, such as locations where multiple pieces of merchandise may be stacked or bunched together, thereby substantially increasing its read rate.

The Echo 405 will join View Technologies' long-range RFID antennas, the Echo 300 and Echo 302, which the firm commercially released in September 2015 (see View Technologies Launches Long-Range RTLS for Passive UHF Tags) The Echo 300 has a four-by-eight array of antennas, for a total of 32 elements. Its read range extends 150 feet, with an accuracy of 3 feet or more. The Echo 300 measures 35.6 inches in length, 68 inches in width and 6 inches in depth, and weighs 81 pounds. According to View Technologies, it is best suited for ceiling heights of 30 feet or more.

The Echo 302 features a four-by-four array of antennas comprising 16 elements, with a read range of up to 75 feet, and is best suited for ceiling heights of less than 30 feet, the company reports. This model is approximately 35.6 inches in length and width and 6 inches in thickness, and weighs 25 pounds.

View Technologies offers a real-time location system (RTLS) known as inView, consisting of Echo smart antennas designed by RF Controls and manufactured by Stanley Black and Decker, as well as RF Controls' RFC-6100XR RFID reader and View Technologies' inView software. All View Technologies antennas employ steerable phased-array technology to create a cone-shaped read zone, while related software can create zones within the antenna's range to meet a customer's needs, down to less than 1 foot in granularity. The inView system lets companies locate their RFID-tagged items in real time, View Technologies explains, as well as monitor when they are moved and in what direction. They can then collect analytics based on that data, view it in real time or receive alerts when specific events occur, such as an item being moved through a doorway.

The Echo 300 and 302 smart antennas and the inView Software Platform were named as finalists in the Best New Product category for this year's RFID Journal Awards. A team of judges will review all finalist exhibits and determine the winner at RFID Journal LIVE! 2016, to be held at the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando, Fla., on May 3-5. View Technologies will offer a brief presentation on the inView Software Platform at the event, during the award sessions taking place on May 4 from 3:50 to 4:30 p.m. In addition, the company will provide demonstrations of the inView platform and the Echo 405 antenna at its booth (#125).